Groening is already steeling himself for some of Australia’s rabid Simpsons fans, stating that,

“The most intense Simpsons fanatics I’ve met are from Australia, so I’m coming to Sydney to check out all you lunatics”

GRAPHIC has been chasing Groening to appear at the festival for six years, and they couldn’t be more stoked that he’s actually going to come. The excitement was palpable in a statement from the Sydney Opera House’s head of contemporary music, Ben Marshall.

“GRAPHIC exists to highlight and champion those singular voices in comics, animation, illustration and contemporary music that are capable of producing great art, but are usually passed over in traditional arts conversations,” said Ben Marshall.

“I think there’s no better embodiment of this idea, dead or alive, than Matt Groening — which is why we’ve been chasing him to appear at GRAPHIC for six years. We can’t quite believe the moment’s finally here and doubly thrilled it’s with his close friend and cartoonist extraordinaire Lynda Barry.”

Held at the Sydney Opera House, this festival is sure to be a hit with the line up also featuring big Australian names such as Michael Luenig. This is Groening’s only Australian appearance, so you’d think tickets would’ve been selling like hotcakes. Luckily for you, that’s not the case and tickets to his talk ‘Matt Groening and Lynda Barry in conversation: Love, Hate & Comics’ are still available.